Bubbles in moldavites
All moldavites contain bubbles, but not all are visible with the naked eye. The size of bubbles ranges within a hundredth of milimetre and a couple of centimetres.
Lechatelierite in moldavites
Lechatelierite belongs to inhomogeneities in moldavites. It is a particle of pure quartz glass (lechatelierite contains 99% of SiO2.) made by melting quartz mineral grains.
Summary of tektites
Ordered by age. Bediasites Georgiaites Urengoy tektites Moldavites Ivorites and microivorites Irghizite and microirghizites Australites Indomalaysianite, Malaysianite Indomalaysianite, Malaysianite Billitonite Philippinite Indochinite Thailandite Bediasite Color: Black non-transparent (brown shine through thin plate). Deposit: North America – about then Texas Counties in an area of over 7,000 square miles (18,000 km2). 1st discovery / description Age…
Tektites dating – determining the age of moldavites
Potassium–argon dating (K–Ar) method It is suitable as tectites (natural glass) usually contain quite high amount of potassium (including radioactive potassium 40). The amount of potassium is determined by mass spectometer. In the same way the amount of argon 40 can be measured. The date of origin of natural glass can be calculated from the…
Beautiful small drop (tear)
Dimensions: 21 x 9 x 7mm (0.83 x 0.35 x 0.28″) Weight: 1.3g (8ct) Locality: Chlum Shape: Drop
Origin of the Moldavite name
The name “Czech emerald” originates from the times of rule of the emperor Rudolf II. and it was coined by his royal doctor and biologist (1609). The scientific world came to know moldavites on 2 December 1786 at a meeting of The Royal Czech Society of Sciences. Professor Josef Mayer gave a lecture…
The largest moldavites
The largest moldavites have been found in Moravian localities. The biggest one weighs over 265g. Based on findings of big fragments we can suppose that the whole stones (primary shapes of moldavites) weighed up to 500g. The largest Bohemian moldavites Weight [g – gram] Weight [ct – carat] Locality 142.5 712.5 Radomilice 137.0 685.0 Stoh…
Shape – Fragments
They were shaped by the same processes as partial primary shapes but we can’t identify any original (source) primary shape. Fragment shapes of moldavites
Partial primary moldavites shapes
Moldavites went through a marked change of their shape on the Earth’s surface. It was caused by mechanical and chemical effects of various factors. Breaking and cracking of moldavites was very significant and lead to the origin of partial primary shapes and fragmental shapes. It happened during the dropping and geological transport and also spontaneously…
Primary shapes of moldavites
The initial shape of all splash-form moldavites were drops, which were created in the separation of bigger tektite melt mass. Other shapes of splash-form moldavites are the result of transformation of some parts of the original malleable drops by rotation. Moldavites with primary shape are very rare among moldavites, representing less than 1% of all…
